(1 of )Traffic slows in the morning commute over the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge during the shutdown of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Thursday, Aug. 29, 2013, in San Rafael, Calif. Commuters faced their first morning on Thursday without the bridge, but there weren't major traffic snarls as day broke across the Bay Area. Alternate bridges to get into San Francisco were more crowded around 6:30 a.m., and Bay Area Rapid Transit trains appeared to be carrying a heavier load than usual. But commuters were managing to get around. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

GUY KOVNER

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT | July 17, 2017

Bay Area voters may get the chance next year to boost bridge tolls by as much as $3 to pay for more than $4 billion in regional transportation projects, including $580 million earmarked for Sonoma and Marin counties.

The potential funding would contribute to fixes for some of the North Bay’s most vexing roadway problems, including the Highway 101 Narrows in Novato and flood-prone stretches of Highway 37 across the top of San Pablo Bay.

The SMART commuter train also would get much of the money needed to extend service to Windsor under the spending plan fashioned by state lawmakers this week.

A majority of voters in all nine Bay Area counties would have to approve toll hikes on seven state-owned bridges — excluding the local district-owned Golden Gate Bridge — in order to generate funding for $4.2 billion in regional transportation projects.

North Bay counties would get 14 percent of the total revenue. BART would get the biggest chunk of funding at nearly $1 billion.

The funding plan is incorporated in Senate Bill 595, awaiting action by the state Senate and Assembly. If ratified and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, the bill would set a vote in June or November 2018 on the proposed bridge toll boost.

The money is aimed at what McGuire called “the most significant heartburn” for North Bay motorists.

McGuire said he was involved in negotiations with Bay Area lawmakers over the spending plan through Thursday morning.

The bill must be approved by the Senate and Assembly and make it to Brown’s desk by mid-September. SB 595 is authored by Sen. Jim Beall, D-San Jose, chairman of the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee.

If voters approve the bridge toll boost, the specific amount of the toll hike would be determined by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

McGuire said a $3 increase would be needed to generate enough revenue to support bonds that would finance the $4.2 billion worth of projects.

Tolls on six of the state-owned bridges, including the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, are now $5. On the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge tolls vary from $4 to $6 depending on the time of day.

If the toll hike is approved by voters, money would become available in 2020-2021, McGuire said.

A legislative analyst’s report on SB 595 said residents of the East Bay counties of Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano pay 63 percent of tolls on the state bridges, while Marin residents pay 4 percent and Napa and Sonoma residents each pay 2 percent.

The proposed $40 million allocation for SMART would cover about 80 percent of the anticipated $53 million cost of extending the rail line from the Sonoma County Airport to downtown Windsor, said Farhad Mansourian, general manager of Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit.

“Any time you have that much money, getting the rest is much easier,” he said.

If voters approve the toll increase next year, SMART should reach Windsor by late 2020, Mansourian said.

McGuire said extending SMART to Windsor has been a “top priority” for him since he was a Sonoma County supervisor. Providing that service is “a significant milestone for northern Sonoma County,” he said.

Windsor Mayor Debora Fudge, who is chairwoman of the SMART board, said in a statement that officials will “continue working together in the months and years to come to keep SMART on track, headed north to Healdsburg and Cloverdale.”

The $125 million allocation for the Highway 101 Narrows at Novato would cover half of the roughly $250 million funding gap for that project, McGuire said.

Daily congestion at the Narrows has been “a nemesis for decades” for North Bay motorists, he said.

The $150 million earmarked for Highway 37 will elevate the lowest-lying stretch of the route from Highway 101 in Marin County to Lakeville Highway. Commuters were frustrated by repeated flooding on the highway and closures during last winter’s storms.

The anticipated project would raise the most vulnerable stretches out of the flood zone for 20 years, he said.

The spending plan also includes $135 million for improvements to the Highway 101/580 interchange in San Rafael, which McGuire said was the “heart of the pain for Marin County commuters,” and $30 million for the San Rafael Transit Center, which will be one of the busiest stations on the SMART line, he said.

The plan also commits $100 million to transit improvements in Sonoma, Marin, Napa, Solano and Contra Costa counties.

You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 707-521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @guykovner.